And yesterday the council in Cannes banned backpacks and other large non-transparent containers from its beaches in an attempt to lower the likelihood of a bomb attack there.

The moves come after the Bastille Day attack in Nice in which 84 people were murdered after being mowed down by a truck.

On Tuesday 85-year-old Catholic priest Fr Jacques Hamel had his throat slit by two Islamic teenagers as he celebrated Mass at a church near Rouen, northern France.

According to regional newspaper La Provence, police chiefs in the popular southern region have claimed they believe the area could be singled out. They have demanded extra troops to deal with the threat.

In 2015, 38 tourists – 30 of whom were British – were shot dead on a beach in Sousse, Tunisia by 23-year-old Muslim Seifiddine Rezgui Yacoubi.